Logistical processes, e.g., a delivery, receiving, or warehousing processes, typically manipulate, e.g., assemble, repackage, store, and/or transport, one or more products. The manipulation of the products usually includes coordinated movement of a plurality of products between various proximate locations, e.g., locations within a common building or facility, and/or remote locations, e.g., locations within different cities, regions, or countries. Typically, logistical processes distribute products among manufacturing entities or between a manufacturing entity and a market entity. Such entities typically have requirements for the logistical process, e.g., delivery lead times, storage or shipment tracking, and/or other specifications. Although the entities allow some failure percentage, that is entities do not require 100% accuracy with respect to the product manipulation, i.e., operation of the logistical process, new or modified logistical processes typically experience higher than acceptable failure percentages and require validation, e.g., start-up, troubleshooting, and transition to substantially uneventful operation, to implement a logistical process within a desired failure percentage. Accurate prediction and tracking of the time associated with validating a process may reduce adverse effects with respect to interrelated processes, e.g., delays cascaded to manufacturing or market entities.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0160103 (“the '103 application”) filed by Raffo discloses a system for simulating software design and development. The system of the '103 application includes a library of engineering building blocks configured as generic sub-processes or sub-components which are selected and arranged to establish a model of the software development process. The model includes different process stages, including, requirement analysis, design, implementation, testing, and release. By modeling each of the different stages, the system of the '103 application simulates the development process according to generalized equations as a function of input data. By varying the input data, the system of the '103 application simulates the influence the data have on the development process.
Although the method of the '103 application may model a software development process and provide simulated outcomes, it may not accurately predict the time necessary to validate the process. Additionally, the system of the '103 application may be complex and may require significant expertise to utilize.
The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the shortcomings set forth above.